Chelsea star Juan Mata is to be rewarded for his fine form for the club over his first two seasons and sign an improved contract ahead of the 2013/14 campaign.
The Spanish international had been linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge this summer as both Barcelona and Real Madrid had in interest in Mata which led to widespread speculation originating from the likes of AS and Marca, which was probably an attempt to destabilise the player as those particular publications are friendly with the aforementioned clubs respectfully.
Then there were the stories suggesting that he had been offered to Manchester United on top of £10 million for Wayne Rooney. Ben Smith of the BBC claimed the story to be ‘100% correct’ via his Twitter account, we all had a good laugh and Chelsea swiftly denied the story for good measure.
As amusing as the daft rumours can be, it would be nice to put an end to them and everyone will be delighted to see Mata commit his long term future to the Blues. The 25-year-old’s current deal expires in 2016 and is worth around £70,000-a-week, and the new deal should keep him until 2018 on 100,000-a-week.
Mata has established himself as a fan favourite since his arrival in West London and it’s also thought that he’s a personal favourite of the club’s Russian owner Roman Abramovich during this time as well. Last season he was by far our best player, scoring 20 goals and making 35 assists in 64 appearances.
Source: ESPN
Great news!!! Fully deserved.